This invention relates to the use of a naturally occurring sugar-phosphate compound called fructose-1,6-diphosphate, for treating the sporadic crises that arise in people suffering from sickle cell anemia.
The following paragraphs provide background information on sickle cell anemia, under its subheading, and then on fructose-1,6-diphosphate, under a different subheading. However, it must be emphasized that fructose-1,6-diphosphate (abbreviated herein as FDP) apparently has never before been used to treat sickle cell anemia. A search of the National Library of Medicine computerized database, combining "sickle cell anemia" or "sickle hemoglobin" with either "fructose diphosphate" or "fructose phosphates" identified only a single article, which involved a different compound. That article, Colomer et al 1991 (complete citations are provided below) related to the levels of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate in certain types of cells, congenital hemolytic anemias. As described below, 2,6-FDP (which is of no interest whatever in the current invention) has very different biochemical properties than 1,6-FDP, which is the compound used in this invention. The 1,6-FDP isomer (with phosphate groups coupled to the #1 and #6 carbon atoms of the fructose molecule) is the only form of FDP that is of interest herein. It is discussed in more detail below.
Accordingly, sickle cell anemia and 1,6-FDP have both been studied extensively. However, there apparently has never been any prior effort to treat sickle cell anemia, using 1,6-FDP.